Lilypie - Kids Birthday

Lilypie - Fourth Birthday

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Tonight after dinner we ventured outside for some fresh air. Collin has been such a good boy and completely content to hang out inside for the last few days (since we've been home from the hospital), but I knew he'd love to get outside.

I was right. :-)

The pretty pooches were also happy to be outside.

And us? We enjoyed it too! Doing what she does best, sweet Lauren slept snugly inside the blanket the whole time. :-)

Every day I feel stronger and we move closer to a "normal" routine. We are blessed to call this our life!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Today has been an absolutely lovely day. I've really enjoyed soaking up snuggles and getting to know our sweet girl!

We're into a pretty good routine already and Lauren is doing beautifully. She eats well, speaks her mind when she doesn't want to be bothered by the nurses :-), and is doing fairly long stretches of sleep too.

She makes sweet little sounds while she sleeps, and seems to enjoy being free to stretch rather than being swaddled. As I watch her sleep, she flails every couple minutes (a perfect newborn reflex) but continues sleeping. She's a squirmy sleeper, which doesn't surprise me after all the squirming I felt while she was in the womb!

He is 34.5" tall and weighs 30 pounds. This month he got three new molars, which means there's just one more 2-year molar left to come in.

It's been an exciting month, full of funny and creative moments.

Collin is very interested in people's names. He wants to know the name of the clerk at the post office, the man in the truck beside us, and every kid he sees. I often say, "I don't know his name. Should we ask?" At first Collin wasn't at all interested in asking. Now he says, "What's his name? I want ask!"

On the flip side of the name coin, Collin doesn't have any names in his repertoire for pretending. When he shows someone his (pretend) puppy or baby or horsie or whatever else, the most common question they ask is "What's your puppy/baby/horsie's name?" to which he always responds, "My puppy/baby/horsie no have name!"

One thing Collin loves to do right now is play sports. He likes baseball, basketball, tennis, and soccer the most. His version of every sport involves a helmet and running. To play basketball: put on your helmet, bounce, bounce, shoot, ruuuuuun! To play tennis: put on your helmet, bounce, bounce, toss, hit, ruuuuun! He likes running. :-)

One of Collin's favorite things to do is race. "I beat you!" is a phrase he loves to use! It's currently working in our favor when we're trying to convince him to do something he isn't thrilled about. Transitioning quickly isn't something we're good at, because we've learned it'll go much more smoothly if we give Collin a one-minute warning so he has time to turn off, close, lock, or do whatever else needs to be taken care of to finish his current pretend scenario. Taking him downstairs for a nap when his excavator out on the deck is still on is a guaranteed disaster, so we're doing our best to give a little extra time for smooth transitions.

Collin's articulation is really improving and he's mastered quite a few new sounds this month. He talks constantly and asks a lot of questions. He's also quite good at making conversation. He's still straightening out I'm/me/I. He likes to ask "How you doing?" and usually responds with "I'm doing well" or "I'm pretty good" when asked how he's doing. "Pretty good" is the most common phrase he uses to describe - how his lunch is, how his sleep was, what he thinks of an idea, etc.

He has a standard routine for pretend phone calls, which he makes on a regular basis. It goes like this: "You there? You there? Hi! How you been doing? Pretty good? HAHAHA! Yep, yep. HAHA! Yep, yep, yep. Ok. Bye!" His exaggerated laugh during pretend phone calls is hilarious!

A funny new phrase Collin picked up on this month is "What in the world?" to express confusion or surprise. It sounds pretty cute coming out of his mouth. :-) He repeats phrases really well, almost to a surprising degree. His daddy was talking about bringing the hardwood into the house so it could acclimate, and Collin said, "Acclimate? Daddy, you said 'acclimate?'" He's always listening!

Collin continues to be very sweet and affectionate, always willing to give hugs and kisses. He's compliant and courteous, goofy, loves to make people laugh, and he loves laughing too. With the chaos of building a house, his easy-going nature has really been tested and affirmed this month. Early nap? No problem! Late bedtime? Not a big deal! Dinner in the middle of a construction site? No worries! He's such a good dude!!!

Collin is really interested in letters and numbers. He identifies almost every letter and knows at least one word to go with each letter. "C for me!" is the cutest. :-) He likes using his fingers when he counts and when he says numbers, so we practice that in the car quite a bit. "Mommy, this is two? Hold down my thumb, ring finger, and pinky?"

As a general statement, some of Collin's favorite things are construction (sites, equipment, projects, work), vehicles and working on vehicles, reading books, playing I-Spy (he has the coolest Daddy ever, who just so happens to be a blast to play I-Spy with!), running, helping with any and every project he sees someone do, making sound effects while using pretend equipment, dancing, singing, and pretending.

We are so proud of our precious son and grateful for the gift it is to be his parents. Today is a big day in Collin's world, because it's the day he'll meet his baby sister. We are excited to watch our sweet boy grow into his role, because we know he'll be a fantastic big brother!

Monday, August 26, 2013

Yesterday we were all at the house laying wood flooring. It was loud and a bit chaotic. We took several toys and some of Collin's tools with us, but he didn't need those. We looked over during the ruckus, and this was what he was up to. :-)

Sunday, August 25, 2013

39 weeks means you're officially the size of a watermelon! You're at birth size and weight, but your brain will continue developing for these last few days (and your first years of life). All systems are go! You're shedding layers of skin, which is why your skin will be so very soft when you're born.

You did a big sideways flip this week, so your tushie is way to my left and all your limbs are to the right. It makes my belly lopsided and all the action from your movements concentrated in one spot. You're still pretty active considering how little space you have for moving around.

Overall, I'm more comfortable this month than I was last month. That being said, I'm ready to have you in my arms rather than in my belly. My wish is about to be a command, because you're scheduled to arrive Tuesday morning (the 27th of August) around 8am.